The Greatest Misunderstanding
by Oh-no-she-di'ent
Summary: A letter is written. Lorelai receives it. It was written by Luke. If it walks and quacks like a duck, then it's a duck, isn't it? Hmm. Luke and Lorelai centered. Rated T, but, generally, I don't write for young readers. Pls be mindful of that. Enjo


**Disclaimer: _Ooh, I just completed my collection of all the seasons of GG (that I plan on buying, at least) Seasons 1-5. That's all I own. Pinky swear._**

**A/N**: _I just finished this story, so I thought I'd go ahead and post it. As always, I appreciate every last one of the readers and reviewers, and I really hope you all enjoy this story. I hope you guys don't mind the chapterless stories. They're annoying to me, so I try to avoid them. :-P_

**The Greatest Misunderstanding**

_Dear Lorelai, _

_We've known one another for a long time now. You're a great friend, and I care about you a lot. That said, I have always watched from the sidelines as you started and ended various relationships. None of those have ever worked out, and maybe the reason for that is because you're looking in the wrong places. I'm here. I've always been right here. Whenever you're ready. __-----Luke _

"Wow."

"I know."

"That's-that's, uh, wow."

"I _know _."

Sookie finally tore her eyes away from the paper and to Lorelai. "Luke wrote this," she said shockingly.

"I know that, Sookie."

"No, I mean, _Luke _wrote this. This is his handwriting," she said looking at the sheet once again.

"Again, I know. I read the thing about a hundred times," Lorelai said taking a sip of coffee as she leaned against the counter in the inn's kitchen.

Sookie stepped nearer to her. "Honey, I don't think you need to be holding a glass mug right now."

Lorelai looked over the edge of it as she brought it from her lips. "Why do you say that?"

Sookie gave her a sympathetic look. "Look at your hands." Lorelai looked at her hands to find them trembling excessively. "You're going to scald yourself," she added as she slowly eased the mug out of her hands.

Lorelai watched the mug intently as Sookie set it on the countertop. "You're right," she finally said before looking up at her. "You're right. I don't need to...be drinking coffee right now, right?" She asked quickly as she folded her arms tightly over her chest. Sookie agreed slowly with a nod. Lorelai went on. "Never thought I'd hear myself say that. It's like a pod person has taken over my mind. Though a pod person wouldn't actually admit that they are a pod person. I'd think they'd want anonymity, you know? For when they begin their...pod person activities."

"Well, it's the only thing that makes sense," Sookie agreed softly. "Lorelai, I know--"

"Let me just get behind you here," one of the kitchen helpers said to Lorelai. He was trying to reach an area behind where she stood.

"What are you doing?" Sookie asked wide-eyed.

He suddenly looked regretful for the interruption. "I was just trying to get to the kitchen shears." He pointed back over to where he was working. "You told me that you wanted me to cut--"

"I know what I said, but what I don't know is what it is you're doing. We're talking here, Johnny."

He smiled. "It's John, actually."

"No, it was John before you came over here with the- the...rudeness. Now, it's Johnny. As in little Johnny. As in _kid_ Johnny. As in little boy Johnny, whose mother is talking. _Go away, little Johnny _," she said fanning him away. He jumped slightly and went off in the direction that he'd come from. "As a matter of fact," Sookie yelled turning around, "Everybody out. Aaaaaall the little Johnnys out of the kitchen." Though not one of the five others knew what she was talking about, nobody hesitated in emptying the room. They were familiar with the tone, and that's all they needed to know.

Sookie watched all of them hurry to the exit. When the last person was out, she sighed tiredly and turned attention back to Lorelai. Her gaze rested on the floor, and she seemed clueless to the scene that had just taken place.

"Now, where was I?" Sookie asked thoughtfully.

Lorelai was silent for a moment. "How long has it been?" She asked quietly.

Sookie's eyes fell to her watch. "Well, you've been here about ten minutes," she answered.

Lorelai didn't bother correcting her. She just continued on as if, instead, there'd been a request for clarification. "How long has Luke felt this way, Sookie?" She asked looking at her. "How long do you think it's been?"

"Well, I'd say it's been years. You already know what I think."

Lorelai nodded and dropped her gaze in thought once again. When she had stepped out of her house at around ten that morning on her way to work, she'd seen an envelope on her doorstep. It hadn't been there an hour prior, she knew. It took her seconds to get it open and read the note. It took her minutes to catch her breath, and it took almost an hour to remember that she had been on her way to work and was, by then, a half hour late.

She reached over and slid the note from Sookie's fingers. "Why would he write this?"

Sookie tossed her hands up. "He cares about you," she offered. "He always has."

Lorelai read it again. "I can't...even wrap my mind around this."

Sookie's eyes fell to the letter, then rose to Lorelai. "What are you going to do?" She asked her.

For a moment, Lorelai looked to be lost. "I don't know. I just...I have to do something. I have to see him eventually, don't I? I have to confront him and...discuss this."

"Well, what are you going to say?" Sookie asked quietly.

Lorelai shrugged. "Maybe I'll know when I see him. I can't seem to process this right now," she said bringing her hand to her forehead.

"Okay."

Lorelai folded the note slowly. "Um, I have some paperwork to do, so I'm gonna head to my office," she said distractedly.

"Okay," Sookie said again. "Let me know if you want to talk or anything."

Lorelai smiled. "I will." She started walking toward the exit. "Do you want me to usher the Johnnys back in?"

Sookie giggled. "Yeah, march 'em back in here," she told her.

Lorelai nodded and left the kitchen.

Throughout the day, she tried not to think about the note. She tried to focus on nothing but the inn and other tasks that awaited completion. That didn't work out too well.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai's day came to an end a little after six. She figured that Luke's dinner rush was over, and she thought that that made a nice lull convenient for conversation. As she neared the diner, her heart rate was coming through hard and fast. Her steps were unrushed. Slow even. She knew that their relationship was about to change in some way. She had no idea what she would say to him or how she would approach anything.

And that unsureness made her reluctant to take those steps.

As she pushed open the door to the diner, the jingle that announced her entry was like the beginning of an event.

Luke stood behind the counter concentrating fully on his order papers. She took a small breath and went to sit on one of the stools.

He looked up as she sat. "Hey," he said before dropping his eyes back down.

"Hey back." She watched him for a reaction. His brows furrowed as he looked confusedly at the pad. Whatever it was that caused that look seemed to clear up quickly because he nodded his head as an understanding expression replaced it. "What do you have there?" She asked lightly.

He sighed and looked at her. "Just some orders. I did 'em a couple days ago, but since I can't seem to find them, I have to do it all over."

"Fun."

"The funnest."

"Yeah," she said quietly as she stared at him. He seemed normal. A little too normal. "Luke, do you have a moment?"

"Sure," he said as he jotted something else down. He looked up at her.

Lorelai looked off to the side briefly. "Can I talk to you alone? Upstairs maybe?"

Luke dropped his gaze, and Lorelai thought in that moment that maybe the weird normalcy was just a front. "Uh, sure. Let's go," he said setting everything down. He waved her over to the curtain before turning toward the kitchen. "Caesar, cover me," he yelled.

"Sure thing, Boss."

He started to walk behind her, but thought of something. "Go on up," he said to Lorelai. "The door's unlocked." She nodded and went up the stairs.

Luke went back to the kitchen. "Hey, Caesar, I need another favor."

"What's that?"

"I have to go back to Hartford in the morning for another meeting."

"You want me to handle things here?"

Luke narrowed his eyes in apology. "Can you? I'd really appreciate it. I know I still owe you from this morning, and don't worry, it's coming," he said reassuringly.

"Don't worry about it. I could use the cash."

Luke smiled. "Thanks. And, I promise it won't be three hours this time. At least I hope."

"Just tell me that it won't be between eight and eleven again, the busiest hours," Caesar said hopefully.

"Well, it's at nine. Did I mention I owe you big?" Caesar nodded his agreement. "Thanks, man," Luke said.

He went back into the main area. "Be back in a minute," he said loudly before going up the steps.

He shut the door as he entered the apartment. Lorelai was standing in the middle of the floor looking downward. She looked at him as he came inside. Sticking both hands in his back pockets, he asked, "So, what's up?"

Lorelai swallowed, unprepared for the conversation that was about to take place. She knew she had to initiate it, and she wished something would pop into her head telling her instructions for doing that. She shifted on her feet, and Luke's eyes went immediately to that before he looked back at her waiting for her to speak.

She cleared her throat as she stretched her neck slightly. "Wow," she said quietly. "This is awkward, hunh?" She asked looking at him.

His eyes widened thoughtfully. "Yeah, sure. It's...awkward," he agreed hesitantly. Lorelai asking him up to his apartment to speak privately was a little new. He supposed even awkward. She said awkward, so it was...awkward. Sure.

She laughed softly. "I just thought that maybe we should talk," she said nodding knowingly.

"Yeah...talking's...good," he answered.

"I always think so," she responded quickly.

"Of course you do," he said plainly. "I think it gives you a high," he said shortly after.

Lorelai figured that if they went into banter, they'd drift a great ways off topic. A decision was made by her to put the subject on the table. She was silent for a moment. When she spoke, it came out quietly. "How long have you felt this way, Luke?"

He seemed to fluster. He thought it a weird question, and he figured she already knew the answer to it. Why else would he put up with her and her ways for so long? If she was happy talking, _let her talk _. He answered with no hesitancy. "I've always felt that way. I thought it was obvious."

Lorelai's breath caught. She hadn't been at all prepared for such a heedful admission. She looked into his eyes searchingly, and his bore into hers. His hands still rested in his jean pockets, he wasn't nervous, and he seemed clear on what he had said.

They stood in silence. Lorelai had no idea how to respond to his statement, and Luke waited for her to continue on with the reason for coming up to the apartment.

"Why are you getting all red?" He asked calmly.

"I'm just..." She shook her head as if that would rid the color. "I never knew you felt like that, Luke."

_'Okay, weird conversation,' _Luke internally deadpanned. "Lorelai, you're you," he said motioning toward her. "I've known you for, what, eight years now? I accept you completely as you are. I don't think I have much of a choice," he said lightly, sensing that she may take his earlier comment the wrong way and get offended.

She smiled. "Why have you never told me?"

He gave her a slight look of bewilderment before sighing weakly. "I don't know. It never came up." He thought now was the best time to insert her previous 'awkward' statement. Why they seemed to be having an in-depth discussion on him saying that talking gave her a high was a complete mystery.

She looked down. "Yeah, I guess it didn't," she said quietly. Luke was making it extremely easy for her to talk about his note, and as she looked downward, she thought of all of the questions that she could ask him and possibly have an easy answer to. His feelings for her were clear and unobstructed. No doubt lay in his words. None. That, alone, was amazing.

She didn't know where to go next. Luke was a great person, and he, over the years, had gained himself a special place in her life. And, now was as good a time as any to see how that translated into something more. He was very attractive, he had a huge heart, and he treated Rory like she was family. He got her, and he was independent and hard-working. She also had to factor in that she always thought that they balanced one another out perfectly. As she thought of all of this, she realized that she had been more prepared for this day than she had thought. It wasn't a hard decision to make. This was definitely something worth exploring.

"Luke," she said quietly.

"Lorelai," he said just as quietly. He meant it to sound somewhat mocking as he waited for her to get to the main topic for discussion, but that's not how it sounded to her at all. It sounded strangely intimate, and she actually felt an unfamiliar weakening in her knees.

He had taken the first leap with his letter. And, considering he was working off of nothing but friendship, Lorelai saw his leap as being the biggest. She felt it was only right for her to take the next. If only to let him know where she stood. She pushed aside the strangeness and the surreal feeling that nearly led her to believe that she hadn't woken up just yet.

"Luke," she began again with a little more confidence, "I'm going to go to the video store. This Friday," she added. He nodded slowly, causing her to continue. She did so, stumbling over her words as they poured out of her mouth. "You know, after getting out of Gilmore Hell. And, I didn't know exactly what I was going to get because I think I've probably seen every movie there, with the exception of the ones behind the curtain because despite how lacking my love life is at the moment, I'm just not in that particular category of desperate. Not that 'the curtain' contains any real explicit material. Just the Stars Hollow version of explicit, which apparently was started by my daughter. You'd think that I'd have a bit more respect for something inspired by my offspring, but here I stand, mocking the respectable curtain. But she mocks it too, so I think it's okay." She paused to take a breath, noticing him just looking at her patiently like he had all day to listen to her ramblings. She thought he'd take the time to jump in and tell her to get to the point, but he didn't. He just looked at her calmly.

"Anyway," she continued as she glanced down shyly. She looked up and shrugged with indifference, "You can come by if you like. About ten o'clock." She held her breath.

He sighed. "That sounds good, but I can't. Not Friday. I have to get up too early the next morning."

She leaped. She leaped and fell flat on her face. At least that's how she felt at hearing Luke's rejection. No matter how apologetic it sounded, she still saw it as a rejection. She tried her best to hide her disappointment.

"Okay." She smiled. "Well, if you can't, you can't, right?" She said lightly. "No biggie."

Luke looked to be in thought. "What about Thursday? Would that throw you off?"

She'd done an intermediate job at containing her disappointment, but her surprise showed through clearly. "Thursday? You want to do it Thursday...instead?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

She smiled. "Okay, Thursday's good." Suddenly her smiled dropped. "Wait, Thursday's not good. I have plans," she said slapping her hand to her forehead.

"Oh?" He asked questioningly. "Well, it's not a big deal. You don't have--"

"I'm going skating with Rory," she interrupted. She didn't know exactly what he thought she meant by 'plans', but she decided to clear it up quickly just in case he was thinking the wrong thing.

"Skating?"

"Yeah, we just watched Airborne, and I thought _'what if I'm missing my true calling as a young pretty surfer/skater boy from California?' _I just want to turn over every stone before truly settling into the whole inn thing."

"Well, it sounds like fun," he said.

"Yeah, it's with Rory, so--"

"Of course it'll be," he finished knowingly. She smiled widely.

She was disappointed that they wouldn't get a chance sometime soon to go on a...date. Because that's what it would have been, she reasoned.

"Well, um, how about I call you so that we can set something up?" She asked, her sudden boldness shining through.

Luke looked at her. He'd gotten his divorce a couple months before, and Lorelai being Lorelai, he figured that it was only a matter of time before she started trying to subtly push her company on him to ensure that he was not too badly affected by The Sock Keeper. He was already prepared for it. In actuality, he was looking forward to it.

"Well, what if I just hung out with you and Rory?" He asked reluctantly.

She smiled broadly. "What?"

He smiled too. "Yeah. I mean, unless you want it to be just be you two. I don't want to impose."

She reared her head back slightly in shock. Of all things that she pictured Luke doing, hanging out with a mother and a daughter while skating wasn't even in the outskirts of that picture. "No," she answered truthfully. "You won't be imposing at all." She looked down at his shoes in thought. "But, of course we'll have to do something else later," she said looking at him knowingly. She pointed between the two of them.

He shifted his eyes briefly before settling back on her. _'Okaaaay,' _He thought slowly. She seemed so very confident in her suggestion that he couldn't express how her words could have been mis-interpreted and taken as a date invitation. He shook it off quickly. Thoughts like that never lasted long in his mind. "Okay. Yeah, me and you," he said trying not to show his genuine confusion.

She smiled and brought her hands together. "Okay, um, good. I'm tired, so I'm gonna go home and take a nice hot bubble bath," she said, realizing instantly how she must have sounded. She tried to move past it quickly. "It was nice to...talk with you," she said lifting her eyebrow a bit.

"Yeah," he agreed. "You too."

She moved over toward him, heading toward the door. He moved aside and allowed her to pass as he readied himself to follow her back out. Her hand rested on the doorknob for a few seconds before she turned back around to face him.

"Luke, I just want you to know that I _have _considered you...many times," she said looking into his eyes.

His eyebrows narrowed some, and she gave him a tiny smile before making her way out of the apartment. He stood there for a moment. He replayed pieces of the conversation that had taken place. Nothing short of weird. Even for Lorelai.

"Considered me what?" He asked the empty apartment.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"Let's go, Rory. Don't sully the Gilmore name," Lorelai said as she passed her on the rink for the umpteenth time.

"This isn't a competition, Mom!" Rory yelled as she tried to keep her balance.

"Certainly not a good one. Come on. This is called the Skating Rink, not the Debating about Skating Rink."

"Well, aren't you just a young Carol Burnett?" She replied sarcastically.

Lorelai skated closer to her. "Rory, little five year olds are passing you right now. Skate fast like me."

"You've fallen like 50 times!" Rory said.

"And, that's where you're wrong," she said calmly. "Almost falling and actually falling are two different things."

"And yet, you've mastered them both."

"We're talking about tiny, minuscule, barely-can-be-called-a-fall falls."

"And just as embarrassing as the bigger ones. I'm still reluctant to admit to the rest of the crowd that you belong to me," Rory said being careful of her strides.

Lorelai waved her hand. "Oh, who cares about the rest of the crowd?" She asked happily. "You have to have some bangs before you become really good, right?"

"Well, you should be an expert in no time."

Lorelai tried to take her hand, but Rory moved it just in time to avoid being snatched up and swept ungracefully around the crowded skating arena. "Come on, Rory!" Lorelai said.

"No, I am quite content going at my own pace." She looked up at her. "Go bully Luke into skating with you!" She said.

Lorelai looked over toward the concession stand where he stood gathering up all the food he'd just purchased for all of them. She smiled instinctively before looking back at Rory with a pout. "He doesn't want to skate. You have to do it with me. Come on," she said zipping ahead and almost falling in the process. "Fast! Fast!" She yelled moving around various skaters. "Oh, no--oh, oh, wall! Wall!" She yelled before running into it and twisting her way to the floor.

Moments later, Rory skated up to her with her sensible strides and stared down at her. "And you call yourself a Gilmore," she said shaking her head. She reached a hand out to her. "Come on, Mom."

Lorelai took her hand and struggled to her feet. "That wall came out of nowhere," she said once standing.

"Of course it did. You ready to go eat?"

Lorelai's face lit up instantly. "Food?" She clapped her hands. "I'll race ya," she said taking off. Seconds later she was doing a windmill movement with her arms and rolling to the ground. Rory skated up again and scooped her off of the floor before they made their way over to where Luke had found a table.

"You have never looked more beautiful to me," Lorelai said to him as she skated easily on the carpeted floor over to where he stood amongst a table of unhealthy foods.

"Can you believe this place doesn't have anything a sensible person would consider eating?" He asked when they were closer.

"They're not supposed to. It's a skating rink. You eat the fattening stuff, then skate it off. It all works out in the end."

He continued on as he pointed to the spread. "This is the reason why today's generation have heart conditions before they hit puberty. They eat crap like this all day, then give it all time to nestle into their little arteries while they play game after game on the Nintendo for hours."

"Luke," Rory began, "I think you're a little behind on your video console reference. Nintendo is like an exiled cousin of what today's youth play with."

"Well, you get my point," he said.

"Unfortunately," Lorelai said low as she began to partake. "But fortunately, in the world of Gilmore, your rant is like saying Grace." Lorelai looked to Rory, and they both smiled.

"Amen," they said simultaneously before digging in.

Luke sighed. "I have to go get the drinks. What do you guys want?"

"Coffee."

"Coffee squared."

He rolled his eyes. "Two bottled waters coming up," he said turning to leave.

They laughed, and Lorelai stuffed several fries in her mouth as she watched him walk away. Rory saw her and smiled.

"Luke and Mom-my sitting in the tree, f-u-"

"Rory!"

"What? Mind out of the gutter, Mom. In my tree, you were fussing. I don't know what kind of freaky tree you've been in."

"Oh," Lorelai said feeling silly. _'Fussing, hunh,' _she thought. "Were we stuck?" Rory nodded after coming to a conclusion quickly. "Well, whose fault was it that we were up there?" She asked curiously.

"Yours."

"But who's winning the argument?" She asked knowingly.

"That would be you," Rory said. "But Luke was about to make a point about persuasion and feminine wiles, and he was even about to drag Eve into it--you know, _trees _and all. So he had some good points coming up."

"Damn," she said snapping her fingers. "Thanks for the heads up."

"You know I've got your back," Rory said lightly as she took a big bite of her hotdog.

They were silent for a moment as they both sampled the array of different foods. "Oh," Lorelai held up a fully loaded nacho and bit into it rolling her eyes back dramatically. "I've been inspired. Ode to the taste bud..." She licked her finger. "Write this down, Rory."

Rory looked at her dully. "I'll remember it," she said flatly.

"Okay." Lorelai swallowed the nacho and began. "Oh, taste bud, taste bud, you bud...with the taste, no matter what I put on you, you savor it with haste. Oh...you...bud that is...tasty...and uh...bastey...never one to...wastey..." She waved her hand. "Okay, inspiration gone."

"Good."

Rory looked over to where Luke was standing in the small line of people waiting to get their beverages. After a few minutes, Lorelai looked over to see what was keeping him. "I thought he was closer to the front than that," she said of his new sixth in line position.

"He was," Rory said. "He helped that older lady carry her food to her table." She pointed to the woman who was now seated with two young girls who looked to be her grandkids.

Lorelai smiled. "Leave it to Luke..."

"Yeah, Beaver never really did much with 'it' anyway. Might as well pass 'it' along to somebody else. And, who better than Luke?"

"My thoughts exactly."

Rory's eyes fell back over to him in line. "So, any updates?" She asked. Lorelai had told her, of course, about the note and how Luke had acted so poised when she approached him. She told her how his actions caused her to see how truly okay it was to explore something with him. But, despite all of that, the situation, along with the feeling, was new so she was a bit hesitant to analyze anything too deeply. In other words, she didn't want to think or talk about it too much.

"Nothing to report," she responded.

"Has he said anything specifically about the note--like what made him write it?"

Lorelai thought back through the past few days. "No," she said realizing he'd never even mentioned it. "But it's Luke, you know?" She reasoned to Rory. She nodded her understanding.

"It _is _Luke," she agreed looking down. A sudden smile appeared as she looked back at her mom. "So, how many times have you read it?"

"What, Jenna Jameson's autobiography? Well, just the one time, but I've gotta tell ya, one time is _enough, _believe you, me," she ended with a sideways look.

"Oh, really?" Rory asked with feigned interest. Lorelai nodded with a smile. "Interesting information. And, what about _Luke's letter _?" She asked getting her back on track.

Lorelai shrugged. "Once."

Rory looked at her doubtfully.

"Three times."

The look persisted.

"A dozen or so times."

Rory's eyebrows rose.

"Okay," Lorelai said slapping her hand on the table, "It's hanging on the refrigerator with an 'L' magnet like one of your grade school drawings. It's not going unnoticed. You happy?"

"And I know it."

"Well, clap your hands and stop interrogating Mommy. You know I crack under pressure. Your eyes are like the judgment police."

Rory chuckled. "They're _your _eyes."

Lorelai sighed exhaustedly. "Why am I so hard on myself, then? This can't be good for my self-esteem."

"What can't be good for your self-esteem?" Luke asked as he walked up to the table.

"My eyes," Lorelai answered happily. He rolled his eyes and didn't bother expressing how that made absolutely no sense. "That line went fast," she commented.

He looked at her. "They opened another register. Were you watching me?" He asked narrowing his eyes.

"Well, the view was just fabulous," she replied with an flirtatious smile.

Rory grabbed a napkin and wiped her mouth. She picked up her water and stood. "Thanks, Luke," she said of the food. She looked at Lorelai. "I'm going to go away, now," she said. "That way, when my future therapist asks of any traumatizing moments in my life, I can just _smooth _right over this," she said picking up her skates and walking away.

Luke watched her leave with a look of confusion. Lorelai said inappropriate crap like that all the time to him in front of her. It never meant anything. Usually they'd just tag up and leave him the difficult task of ignoring _two _Gilmores.

He sighed and sat down across from Lorelai. "You looked really graceful out there," he said referring to her on the floor.

"So, you were watching?" She asked brightly.

"How could anyone not see the lady falling down at every turn?"

"I did not..." She sighed. "You know, you and Rory only see the negative, don't you? Nobody's mentioning the cool little spins that I hit."

He smiled. "Yeah, they were _very _cool," he responded.

"Thank you," she said. She laughed as he shook his head. "So, we've been here for a couple of hours. You want to skate yet?"

"Not even a little bit."

"Why would you come to a skating place if you have no intentions of skating?"

He considered her words for a moment. "It was something to do."

"You have yet to _do _anything," she said. "Can you not skate?"

"I can skate."

"Well, skate with me," she said. "Please," she added softly. She looked at him as she waited on an answer.

He tried to avoid her gaze which, he'd learned long ago, was pretty impossible to do. He tossed his hands up. "Where am I gonna get some decent skates? The ones they have here suck."

"Luke, I'm not asking you to train for the olympics in the things. As long as they have wheels, you can skate."

"Not to mention the--"

"Okay, rant later, skate now." She stood up, waiting for him to do the same.

He looked down at the food. "What about all of this stuff?"

"It'll be here when we get back."

"Maybe," he said low. He stood up, and they both went off to get him some skates.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"I can't believe you didn't want to get out here. You're like an expert skater," Lorelai said to him as he glided along beside her.

"I'm not an expert skater," he said. "I played a little hockey as a kid, so I've done the skating thing before."

"Well--whoa--" She said as she almost fell. Luke put an arm on her back to steady her.

"You know, if you'd stop trying to skate like a professional, you'd be doing a lot better."

"I'm doing just fine," she defended. "I just can't seem to keep my balance at all times. It's not a huge deal."

"Yeah," he began sarcastically, "What does balance have to do with skating, right?"

"Oh, hush up, Mr. Mighty Duck." Both she and Luke moved to the left and right, respectively, as two children skated right between them. Lorelai laughed, and Luke rolled his eyes. The many children that skated around was one of the main reasons he'd opted not to skate. Lorelai looked over at him, breaking out in a wide grin. "Skate in front of me, and pull me," she suggested.

"Is that a command?"

"No, it's a question, or a request. Please pull me, Luke. I would pull _you _if you wanted me to." She smiled wide and winked an eye when he looked at her.

Luke wondered at that moment if she would ever get tired of flirting that way. For someone who expected nothing but friendship from him, she always managed to make comments that made his heart skip a beat. It was a little tiresome for him. And lately, within the last few days, he noticed that she was getting even more bold with her remarks, not even bothering to gloss it over the way she usually did.

"So, what do you say?" He heard her ask.

He paused as he looked at her happy expression. "I'm a little tired of skating," he said slowing a little. "Why don't you find Rory?" He suggested.

Lorelai stopped pushing off and just rolled beside him as she stared at him. "But we just started," she said quietly.

Her tone was laced with disppointment, and Luke would have been embarassingly oblivious to not have caught it. He heard it, and he swallowed lightly. He wanted to just bow out, and he figured she'd let him. Her tone painfully tugged at every heart string he had. She sounded like he had somehow hurt her feelings which wasn't a thrilling revelation for him.

"I know, but..." His voice drifted away, and Lorelai gave him an understanding nod before telling him it was fine. She looked down at her shoes as she skated. Luke felt awful. To the tenth power. "Um, I'll go find Rory for you," he said before turning slowly to leave. He skated off.

Several moments later, the announcer came over the loud speaker. "Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come! Couples only on the floor please. Couples only," he repeated several more times as kids slowly left the floor. Men and women all over the floor joined hands and started to skate to the slower song. Luke spotted Rory and sighed as he turned back fully in the direction he'd come from. He figured he'd rather have an irregular heartbeat for the rest of the night than have Lorelai even a little gloomy.

Lorelai skated along and started looking around for Rory. Apparently looking _and _moving proved to be too difficult a task as her skate slid from underneath her, and she was on her way to the floor before she knew what was happening. She prepared herself for the hard impact, but was instead quickly rescued from behind.

"You're a hazard, you know that?" Luke asked as he corrected her and came to her side. He looked down at her hand and slowly linked his fingers through hers. Lorelai was a little hurt by his previous actions, which, to her, had come from nowhere. As he moved his hand into hers, the smile that appeared on her lips showed no remembrances of any wrongdoing. He felt relieved to see her smile. "I found Rory," he told her.

"Where's she at?" Lorelai asked looking around. Luke pulled on her arm lightly causing her to skate into him. Her other hand went to his chest as he pointed straight ahead between the couples in front of them. The lights were low, and many fluorescent ones bounced all around. Lorelai spotted her and laughed. "Who's that?" She asked trying to get a better look.

"I don't know," he said smiling.

Rory was skating with a little boy of around twelve years of age. They held hands as they skated slowly around. As they turned a corner, they could see her laughing and looking down to him as he spoke to her.

"Well, that is the cutest thing I have seen all night," Lorelai said returning attention back to Luke. "Excluding you, of course," she added as she squeezed his hand lightly. He rolled his eyes but could do nothing to help the smile that formed. Lorelai chuckled and leaned into him. "I think I just got you to blush," she said quietly into his ear.

Luke turned to her, and she pulled back slowly as she looked at him with a shy smile. He wondered how long he would allow himself to put up with her flirtations. It was becoming a struggle to withhold the urge to do or say something about it. Well, a bigger struggle. They rolled slowly around, Lorelai still holding his gaze. Even through the lights, she could see his dark eyes. She smiled and touched a finger to his arm as she prepared herself to make light of the intensity she saw. That simple touch drove him right over the edge of sanity.

He reclaimed his faculties midway through his immediate lean toward her, but it was too late. He either had to follow through or...well, follow through. There was a slight pause that marked the moment when his brain had started working again, and he slowed down, brushing his lips over hers. He pulled away, all set to offer her a full apology for his inappropriate rashness, but her hand went to his cheek and her lips back to his. As Lorelai made a move to turn toward him a bit, her relationship with the floor kicked right back into gear. She fell down, and Luke, trying to grab her, came down after her. He lay half-way on top of her as people continued to skate around them.

"Sorry," Lorelai said sitting up and looking down at their tangled limbs.

"It's okay," he said lifting himself off of her.

They caught one another's eye and looked away. Luke stood up with ease, and he reached both hands out to Lorelai and helped her up. "Thanks," she said.

"No problem."

They looked down at the same time to their linked hands and separated them slowly. Lorelai looked around nervously at the other skaters, and Luke's eyes went to her face. It had all happened so quickly that he found himself wondering if he had just imagined that she had kissed him back. She looked back into his face and he shifted his gaze.

"I guess we should skate before we get trampled," he said looking at her briefly.

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, that's a good idea."

He motioned to the floor ahead, not sure if it was okay to take her hand again, and they pushed off to join the traffic of skaters.

To say that it was an uncomfortable few minutes would have been a ridiculous understatement. They skated together around the rink. They were side-by-side, but remained untouching. And, eye-contact never occurred. Luke would glance at her and her at Luke, but never at the same time, and never for very long.

When the lights brightened, and the song ended, Lorelai exhaled softly and looked over at him. "Ready to stop?" She asked.

He looked at her. "Yeah, uh, if you want to, we can."

She smiled. "Yeah, let's stop," she suggested.

He nodded and led the way off of the floor.

Soon after, Rory joined them over at the table. "Did you guys skate?" She asked them as she took a seat.

They looked at one another, then back at Rory, answering together, "Yeah."

"I knew you'd give in eventually, Luke," she said.

"So, who was the stud?" Lorelai asked to take the focus off of Luke and her.

Rory laughed. "You saw that, hunh?" Lorelai nodded. "Just some kid. He asked me for my number, but since I'm not, nor do I have intentions of being Mary Kay Laturno, I declined, but opted to skate with him instead. Then, that couple thing started. He was so cute."

"He was. He looked like Justin Timberlake's mini-me."

"Yeah, hopefully he'll grow out of that."

"Or maybe he'll settle into it even more. Then, in the year 2014, he'll look you up and you guys can go get some mani/ pedi's together."

"You guys are awful. I hope you know that," Luke chimed in.

"Hey, the truth ain't always pretty," Lorelai said with feigned seriousness.

"It's getting pretty late. You guys ready to go or has Luke started relieving _Roller Boogie_?"

Lorelai looked at Luke and laughed, and he shook his head with an eye roll. "Well, _yeah _to the boogie thing, but I think he can put it on a back burner. Can't you do that for Rory, Hon?" she asked him playfully. Rory started to chuckle and Lorelai's eyes went to her as she joined in her amusement. That instant re-direction caused her to miss the moment Luke temporarily stopped breathing. Though she dealt endearments like that all the time without a second thought, he figured she'd guard it a little more given what had taken place while skating.

Luke and Lorelai had already put their regular shoes back on and were ready to go before Rory had even come over to the table. Lorelai let her know that they would meet her outside as she went to use the restroom before leaving.

They stepped out into the cool night air and looked nervously at one another once again. The discomfort had returned with full force. "Why don't we stand over here and wait for Rory?" Lorelai suggested as she pointed to the wall off to the side. He sighed and followed her over. He knew that being in that much privacy with her, not talking would be impossible. And, honestly, he had not a clue of what to say. Should he apologize? Should he ask if it meant anything? All choices just seemed stupid and not even worth expressing.

They both stood against the wall, and their mutual silence was louder than anything they'd ever experienced.

"So...um..." Lorelai said looking down.

Luke swallowed and stole a look at her without turning his head. With a rather loud exhale, he moved to stand in front of her. "Maybe we should talk," he admitted. Lorelai smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Maybe we should," she said standing up from the wall a bit.

He looked at her. _'And, this is where you start to talk,' _he told himself. She smiled at him again as they looked to one another. _'Words would be nice,' _he added. "Uh, about before..." Her eyes looked widely back into his, and he let his eyes roam over her features momentarily. He realized for the millionth time how insanely beautiful she was. "Um, what happened back there..."

She nodded in encouragement.

He swallowed again as he wondered where his vocabulary had gone to.

Another glitch in his brain waves caused him to close the distance between them, pressing his lips insistently upon hers. Her back went to the wall, and her hands to his back as his grasped lightly at her face. Upon being granted immediate access, he moved his tongue into her mouth, and the intensity was taken up several notches. Tenderness remained, however, in the way they held one another. Lorelai's arms snaked around his neck, and Luke hugged her to him protectively. Their breathing was irregular since the desire to pull away for full breaths remained to be had.

They were aware of where they were as well as the amount of scattered on-lookers that stood nearby, but neither could find enough strength to disengage. After a minute of this, Luke drew upon every ounce of self-control he had. He slowly slid his hands to her sides, taking the time to feel the skin of her midsection where her shirt had slid up. He realized that maybe that wasn't a good idea when this caused her to push her body into him further. He continued to kiss back deeply even as he used his hands to gently push her away. Her hands went to his face as their bodies' distance grew little by little. Their lips were the last to separate, and they stood there, mouths open breathing hard as they looked at each other.

"Oh, there you two are," Rory said walking up to them. They both shook off the lasting effects of their kiss and gave Rory full attention. She stopped when she was next to where they stood. "You guys ready to leave?" She asked with a smile.

They looked at each other, then back at Rory.

Lorelai moved her hand to her mouth, tossing another glance to Luke. "Yeah...Sweetheart, let's go," Lorelai said.

All three of them headed toward the parking lot.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"You did what?!" Sookie asked as she nearly knocked a pot of soup off of the stove.

"Sookie, be careful," Lorelai warned as she rushed over and corrected the pot. She turned around with a sigh. Sookie's kitchen helpers stood all around. "Come on," she said taking Sookie's hand and leading the way out of the backdoor of the kitchen. With the door firmly shut, she repeated her earlier statement. "I said I kissed Luke, Sookie."

Sookie's hands went to her own face. "Eeeeeee! I can't believe it!"

Lorelai smiled.

Sookie stopped squealing for a second and moved toward Lorelai confidentially. "Was there tongue?"

"Sookie!"

"Well, I'm just asking. Was it like a tv kiss where there's plenty of head movement but nothing really going on?" She asked as she pointed towards her own mouth.

Lorelai rolled her eyes, still with a smile. "Well, it definitely wasn't a tv kiss."

"Okay, okay, okay. Walk me through it," she said bouncing on the step.

Lorelai couldn't help but laugh. "Sookie, you have to calm down." Sookie nodded quickly as she worked to do just that.

Lorelai took a breath as she collected her thoughts. "Okay, you know Luke went with Rory and me to the skating rink, right?" Sookie nodded. "Well, after about fifteen _hours_ of skating, only Rory and me, I finally got Luke to skate with me. So, there we were skating along, and you know that I completely like showed up everyone with my _moves _."

Sookie looked at her impressed. "Yeah, I know," Lorelai said happily. "Anyway, there we were skating, and I looked over at him, and something stupid came out of my mouth about him pulling me or something," she said looking confused. "All I knew was I wanted to...touch him--"

"Aww," Came Sookie's response as she watched Lorelai like she was a feature movie.

"No, not yet," Lorelai said waving her comment away happily. "And, he got all weird and said he didn't want to skate, so I ended up on the floor alone..." Sookie's face dropped. "But not for very long because as soon as they announced couple's only, Luke was there again and he took my hand--"

"Awww!"

"I know. Not yet, though. Anyway, we were skating, then he ended up looking at me in this _crazy _intense way. And before I knew it...he kissed me!"

"Oh my god!" Sookie said.

"But..." She was breathing rapidly by this point, "...he pulled back really fast...too fast...because there I was pulling him back because you don't just kiss someone like that and not want to spend minutes indulging, you know?" A rapid nod from Sookie led her to continue. "Then, it was cut short, and nothing really happened," she said, skillfully avoiding the topic of her fall. "And, we were both acting like seventeen year olds with the whole avoidance of eyes, and, man, it was awful."

"Oh, no!" Sookie said, her hands folding over her chest anxiously.

Lorelai grew amused with her friend's undivided attention. "Then, we ended up outside alone. Well, not alone because other people were out there, but that didn't matter because he kissed me again."

Sookie squealed.

"I mean, _really _kissed me," she said in a knowing tone. "It was like the word _kiss _got redefined by his lips. How have I never known that he could kiss like that?" She shook her head. "It was just so intense...and passionate..." She closed her eyes, "And oh my god...sexy and everything inside me felt like...it was on fire."

She re-opened her eyes to find Sookie looking at her in wide-eyed amazement. "I am so jealous," she said calmly. "Not that Jackson can't blow tinder himself, but..."

"Of course," Lorelai said.

"So, what happened next?" Sookie asked. All she needed was popcorn and the scene would be complete.

Lorelai swallowed. "Well, we were kissing, and he started pulling away, even though I could tell he was just as happy as me to keep kissing--"

Sookie's eyes widened. "You mean... _happy _happy?"

Lorelai smiled. "No, I don't mean _happy _happy, Sookie." She paused and looked at Sookie as if she wasn't sure she should share what she was thinking. It ended up coming out anyway. "Although, from what I could tell, his particular... _happiness _won't leave me...wanting for...um, smiles."

Sookie leaned forward, and dropped her voice. "Are you serious?"

"As a freakin' heart attack."

Sookie's hand went to her chest. "Oh my god, Lorelai, you have no idea how happy I am for you guys. You two deserve this." Lorelai smiled widely. "So, then what happened?" She asked getting back into the storytelling.

"Well, Rory came up after we had already separated and everything, then we came back to Stars Hollow. We dropped him off, exchanged Rory-appropriate pleasantries, though a bit on the awkward side, and that was it."

"So no goodbye kiss?"

"No goodbye kiss." Sookie looked disappointed. "But if it makes you feel any better, I think I'm still a little light-headed from the one we did have."

Sookie smiled. "It makes me feel a little better," she said.

Lorelai walked nearer to her. "And now that we're dating, there's definitely much more to come," she said with a wink.

They grabbed hands and squealed before Lorelai stopped and put on a serious face. Sookie followed. "Okay, it's work time, now," she said. "Let's be grown-ups." Sookie nodded and they started walking back inside.

"You are sooo going to do it," Sookie said as she leaned into her.

"Totally," Lorelai said before they went back inside.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"What if she regrets it?"

"Luke, why would she regret it? She kissed you, too, you know."

He rolled his eyes as he switched the phone to his other ear. "I know that, Liz. But, maybe she just...felt cornered." He sighed. "I don't know. All I know is that I invited myself to hang out with her and Rory and ended up kissing her."

Liz chuckled. "And from what I can tell, she enjoyed every minute of it."

"Liz, I didn't call you to get your opinion on _that _," he punctuated. "I called to get your opinion on what I should do," he said weakly. "What if she hates me now?"

He and Lorelai still had yet to speak since that night, the night before. He'd racked his brain wondering how he should handle what had happened. She had said that it was okay for him to come along, and he felt that he'd taken advantage of that by initiating, not one, but two kisses. Two kisses that he was positive she would regret once she'd had time to process everything. He needed someone's point of view, someone's besides his own. Liz seemed like a logical choice since she was not part of the Stars Hollow community, and he figured she'd offer some much needed advice.

"Why on earth would she hate you?"

"Because I took adv--"

"What did you take advantage of?" She asked laughing. "You both were consenting adults. What you need to do, Big Bro, is open your eyes to the fact that you're a catch."

"I'm a what?" He asked annoyed.

"You heard me. You're a catch, and from what you've told me, Lorelai is finally starting to see that." Luke sighed on his end. "Ooh, you know I had a dream about you last night."

"And I'm sure you're about to walk me through it," he said flatly.

She laughed. "No, I know how closed off you are to any form of enlightenment so I'll spare you this time. But, I will tell you this, it's your time for happiness. You've been unfairly denied of love for too long, and something you've been waiting on to happen is about to rock your world." She smiled on her end. "That's all I'm going to say."

"Would it be out of character for me to ask for a little more detail?" He asked clinging to every word she'd just said.

"You'll find out soon enough. You just hang in there."

"I don't have much a choice, so I guess I will."

Liz laughed. "Good."

"Alright, I'll let you go," Luke said tiredly.

"I love you, Big Brother."

Luke shook his head. "Love you, too...Little Sister."

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"I'm sorry. Dammit!"

"Look, man, if you can't--"

"I said I was sorry," Luke snapped. "What the hell do you want me to do? Lick it off the table?" He asked of the spilled coffee.

"Well, for starters, you can learn to pour coffee. Then, you can take the advance course in learning how to speak to your _paying _customers," the gentleman customer barked.

"I'll tell you what," he said setting the pot down on the man's table. "Why don't you take a preliminary course in learning to pour your own damn coffee and follow it up with a little extra curricular of finding the fasted route out of my diner!" He said walking away.

Babbette waited until Luke was out of earshot before leaning over toward the stunned customer. "Welcome to Stars Hollow, Doll," she said before turning attention back to her newspaper.

"Jerk," Luke mumbled as he went back around the counter.

"Luke, watch it!" Caesar said frantically as Luke nearly bumped into the three plates he was carrying.

He tightened his jaw and stepped to the side to allow him room to pass. He'd been a hazard in the diner all afternoon. If he had a nickel for every plate he'd let slip out of his hand, every coffee cup that got overfilled and every accident he'd almost caused, he'd have quite the tip for himself.

He tried to shake it off and calm down, but nothing worked to achieve that. He'd managed to keep himself under control and not add frustration to the mix, but the customer chose to point out his fumble and remind him indirectly of how he had been ever since he received a phone call from Lorelai.

It had been a couple of hours, but his nerves couldn't tell the difference.

He had answered the phone, gruff and a little annoyed thanks to the bundles of people that chattered pleasantly in the background. Hearing her voice caused him to re-evaluate that tone instantly. She was happy and nervous and this was vaguely apparent in her voice, which made Luke realize how well he knew her. She had reached her point fairly quickly as she invited him to dinner at her house, just the two of them that night. Saturday night. Date night. He agreed, or his shock had led him to utter something that sounded like an agreement. Either way, she was pleased when they had hung up from each other.

Now, as he bumbled and fumbled his way through his work, he wondered what all that could possibly mean. He was having a hard time accepting any reality that didn't have Lorelai wanting to remain friends and nothing but. He'd had several hours to think about it and what brought his accident rate from a ten down to about an eight was him convincing himself that she just wanted to talk. It only sounded like a date because she wanted to make a nice environment to talk in. They were friends, after all, and no matter what, they'd want to remain that.

He went back to the storage room to grab a box of plastic utensils. And, that's where he was when he heard his whereabouts being requested by a female customer. He came back into the diner area, box in hand as he spotted a woman holding the collar of a vaguely familiar teenage boy. He'd often seen him in the diner.

"Can I help you?" Luke asked as he dropped the box to the floor and walked nearer to them.

"Luke danes?" The lady asked.

"Yeah," Luke answered hesitantly. She was dressed too casually to be the IRS, and it wasn't often that government officials carted their young teens around when auditing. Still, he wondered.

She presented some sheets to him, and he reached over and took them. "I think those belong to you," she said.

He looked down at them. "How'd you get my order forms? I've been looking everywhere for these," he asked holding them out.

She let the boy go and folded her arms angrily over her chest. "I found them in my son's room," she said never taking her eyes off of the teenager. Luke's eyes fell to him too. "Go ahead, Chad. Tell him. Tell him what you told me. I can't _wait _to hear it again," she said with a smile. It disappeared instantly.

The young boy looked around shyly. "Can we go somewhere else?" He asked shakily as all eyes rested on the three of them.

"No. Right here is fine. Now, tell him _right now _."

Luke looked from him to her, and his confusion was temporarily blinded by the fact that the little thirteen year old looked as if he was ready to bawl right there. Either that or pee his pants. And neither one of those possibilities sat well with him.

"Hey, why-why don't we, uh, go to the--my storage room," he suggested as he pointed toward it. "I don't mind."

It took a moment for the mother to agree to that. She seemed perfectly content with allowing her son to be thoroughly humiliated. Begrudgingly, she did follow Luke in there, though.

Once inside, Luke closed the door lightly and released a breath. "So, what's this about?" He asked curiously.

"Tell him, Chad," the lady said a little more calmly.

He looked down, then back at Luke timidly. "Hi, Mr. Danes," he said pleasantly.

"Luke," Luke corrected. "And, hi," he said folding his arms.

There was a long pause. "Chad," the mother warned.

"I'm sorry...Luke," Chad continued.

Luke rolled his eyes. He was already growing sick of the kid. "Sorry about what?"

Chad looked up at his mom and looked away immediately. Eye contact with her wasn't showing to be a good idea. He reached in his back pocket, removed a folded note, and handed it to Luke. "About this," he said.

Luke looked at him for a few seconds before unfolding the note and reading it. His eyes went wide immediately. "What the hell is this? Who wrote this?"

"Answer him, Chad."

"I did," Chad said reluctantly.

Luke re-read it. _Dear Lorelai... _He didn't even know where to start asking questions. He was too shocked and confused to be mad. He still had yet to know what it meant.

"Start talking," the mother ordered.

Chad sighed. He looked in the opposite direction of where his mom stood and rolled his eyes hugely. He realized his mother wasn't going to even try to rescue him from his actions.

"I was trying to help," he said looking up at Luke. He pointed to the note. "You like her, right?" He asked genuinely. Luke's brows narrowed as he wondered if the boy was _actually _expecting him to answer that question.

_'Does this look like a school yard to you?' _he thought. "What does that have to do with anything?" He asked holding the letter tightly in his hand.

"A lot," Chad said apologetically. "She's beautiful, man."

"Chad!"

"What?" He asked shrugging towards his mom. "Is it offensive to call someone _'beautiful' _? It's not like I said she's _'hot' _. I was respectful."

His mom retreated. He had a point.

Luke closed his eyes briefly. "Do you even know her?" He asked.

"No, I don't know her." He shrugged. "I don't really know you either."

Luke felt as if they were getting nowhere. And, to be frank, he was tired of talking to a child. He felt as if his life was slipping away. "You wrote this?" He asked strongly. Chad nodded. " _Why _did you write this? I want a time, date, reason, and what you planned to do with it," he said trying to cover all areas to cut down on his rambling.

Chad got his thoughts together and spoke quickly. "I wrote the final draft a week and a half ago. It was about six o' clock at night," he said, working to answer him to the best of his ability. He tossed a glance at his mother and continued.

"I come in here sometimes after school, and I sit at a table, order a soda and a donut because yours is really good for some reason. _Seriously knocks Krispy Kreme right off the map _. It seems like everytime I'm in here, she..." he pointed to the note, "...would come in here and you guys would go back and forth and flirt. It was exhausting to watch it day after day when it's obvious that you like her, man. You change when she's here. The way you talk is...different or whatever. And, I can see why because she seems really cool and down to earth, and even I know that's not easy to find. I got an idea. It probably wasn't a good idea, but it seemed like it was at the time of creation, and I figured it wouldn't be hard to copy your blunt...way of talking. A child could do it," he said pointing to himself. "So, you had a stack of papers sitting on the counter, and I--"

"Stole them," his mother jumped in.

"--borrowed them," he corrected without missing a beat. "I wrote a letter and worked for a while trying to get the handwriting just right using the papers." He shrugged. "I think I did okay. Looking how she looks, I just kind of guessed that she has had a lot of boyfriends, so I tossed something about that in there and took a chance." He exhaled loudly. "And to answer the last part, I've already done something with it. I left it on her doorstep the morning after I finished."

The room was dead silent for about ten seconds as Luke looked at the boy, mouth agape.

"I'm sorry," the mother said breaking the silence. "I found all these copies of the letter in his room and then the order forms, and I..." She looked at Chad and sighed before returning attention back to Luke. "I had no idea," she ended.

Luke's eyes dropped back to the letter. The copy he held in his hand looked nothing like his handwriting. He looked at the mom. "Did you see the final copy? Did it look like I wrote it?" He asked her quickly.

She shook her head apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't see it." She hesitated. "But from the copies I did see, some looked really close to the writing on the...order sheets."

Luke seemed to lose his breath.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. I'm just fine," he said sarcastically. He addressed the boy. "Kid...you can't go around doing stuff like that. This is people's lives your messing with here," he said with surprising calmness.

"I know, Mr. D--Luke," he corrected. "But I wanted to help you. Everybody deserves to be happy, right?" He asked like he was needing affirmation.

Luke rubbed his temple. All he could see was Lorelai picking up the letter and reading it, the same one he held in his hands. How would she react? What would she--wait-- "A week and a half ago?" He asked. Chad nodded timidly. "She's read it," he said aloud. "She's already seen this."

His eyes scanned the room quickly as he tried to recall how much contact he and Lorelai had had in the past week and a half. Suddenly everything started flooding his mind all at once.

The flirting. The massive amounts of shameless flirting.

The touches during her visit. The subtle touches she'd given him as he poured her coffee.

The conversation that had taken place in his apartment. _I've considered you...many times. _

The kiss.

Suddenly, he felt as if he could faint.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"I should tell her. I should...just tell her. That letter didn't sound like me anyway, so it won't be a surprise." Luke paced back and forth in his apartment, dressed and ready to go to Lorelai's house for dinner. "Oh, who am I kidding," he said tossing his hands up. "I may as well had co-written the damn thing."

He didn't exactly know how to feel. He tried not to think of his own feelings about the situation and instead concentrated on the falsehood of what had started it all.

Chad's mom, before leaving, had offered to go to Lorelai and explain everything to her, but Luke had declined. He didn't know what he was going to do, but he did know that the situation was little far beyond clarification by a stranger and her son. He paced the length of the apartment before glancing up at his clock and seeing that he was supposed to be at her house in ten minutes.

He stared at the time as if that would offer the answer to what he should do. Deciding that that was, indeed, pointless, he grabbed his jacket and made his way out of the apartment.

His mind a sea of thoughts, he was there in no time.

Standing at Lorelai's door ready to knock, Luke took several deep breaths, realizing that _one _was no where near enough. Finally gaining the courage to knock, he rapped on the door soundly.

He closed his eyes as he listened to Lorelai's quickened footsteps toward the door. She had on heels, he could tell.

He heard the door open, and he slowly opened his eyes. There stood Lorelai, smiling from ear to ear and dressed as if she were about to grant a dying man one last wish.

She had on a fitting spaghetti-strapped dress, dipped low in the back at the bottom and accentuated every bit of her long legs with the shorter front cut. A pair of modest open-toed stilettos completed the look. Her hair was straightened and she wore it down.

His eyes went wide, and he caught himself quickly, but not quick enough for Lorelai not to catch it. She laughed.

"Look at you," she said. Luke had dressed in a pair of dark khakis, with a dress shirt that he'd left unbuttoned at the neck. That very simple look brought his sexy factor up more than he knew.

"Do you wear that in public?" He asked of her dress.

"Oh, gee, Luke, you know just what to say to make a girl swoon, don't you?" She asked.

"Sorry," he said looking down. He gestured toward her. "You...look...incredible."

She smiled. "Thank you. You're amazing." She rolled her eyes and looked down to keep any red in her cheeks from being seen. "I mean, you _look _amazing," she corrected.

"Thank you," he said softly. They stood in silence for a moment as they looked nervously at one another. "Can I come in?" He asked smiling wide.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, come in," she said stepping aside.

She closed the door behind him.

Luke turned to her and placed his hands in his pockets. "So, uh, dinner, hunh?" She nodded happily. "Have you already notified the paramedics? I need some assurance that they'll make it here in time."

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you just make a joke? I couldn't hear it over me _not _laughing."

He looked toward the kitchen. "It smells amazing," he said looking back at her questioningly. "Who's responsible for that?"

"Who do you _think _is responsible for it?" She asked smartly. She smiled. "Me."

He was quiet for a moment. "You tried to boil water once and ended up with a house full of smoke."

"That wasn't my fault."

"And whose was it?"

"Evaporation."

He rolled his eyes.

"Besides," she began, "you didn't let me finish. What I meant was...meeee _went _to pick up the ingredients for _Sookie _to make it."

He nodded. "Okay, that makes much more sense."

"Well, I kind of wanted it to be edible," she said. "It'll be nice to have you alive for dessert," she joked.

Luke couldn't help but notice how she'd slightly accentuated the word 'dessert'. Without his new knowledge, he wouldn't have paid it much attention at all. But now, it was making his throat close up.

"You want to take off your jacket?" She asked him.

He looked down at himself. "Oh. Sure," he said sliding it off. She took it from him and hung it up.

"Okay," she said with a sigh as she turned back. "Kitchen?"

"Kitchen sounds good," he replied coolly.

"Okay," she said as she led the way. "Then, let us nourish ourselves."

Luke's eyes dropped involuntarily down to her backside as she swayed naturally into the kitchen. He looked insistently away as he tugged at his already loose collar. He tried to focus, instead, on how he would approach the subject of the letter. How would he tell her it was some kid's words...and not his?

Since his mind remained clear of any answers to that question, he decided to put it off.

He knew that it was going to be a long night.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai pushed away her plate and leaned on the table as she looked happily to Luke. "That was really good, hunh?"

Luke took a large sip of his beer and set it down. Lorelai had bypassed any romantic beverages and went straight for what she knew would be a hit with him. He'd been secretly delighted to learn she knew and accomodated him so well.

"It was," he answered. He looked up at her and found her still looking at him trying to contain her level of glee. "What?" He asked looking down.

She shook her head. "Nothing. I'm full. Being full makes me happy," she responded.

"I didn't think you knew how it felt to be full."

"Of course I do. I am human, aren't I?"

Luke shrugged as if it was a debatable inquiry.

"So," she said standing up and heading toward the refrigerator, "you ready for dessert?"

He looked up at her. "You just said you were full."

"Of pasta and salad and..." She pointed to the table where their meal had been, "...all that other real food. Dessert has its own little compartment in my stomach. That compartment is still empty and lonely. And, it wants some of Sookie's Creme Brulee."

Luke pushed his chair back. "Well, sorry to disappoint, but I only have one stomach _area_, and it's full."

"No dessert?" She pouted.

"No dessert," he confirmed.

"Okay, well, I guess I won't have any either. It's no fun to eat it alone."

"Sorry to steal the fun."

"It's okay," she said lightly as she sat back down. "I'm full anyways."

"But you just said y--" He sighed. "Never mind."

"Smart man," she said smiling. "Know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away and know when to ruuun," she sang. Luke looked at her blankly. "Ooh, let's turn on the radio...or better yet, put on a CD," she said. She didn't wait for him to answer as she hopped up and went to her stereo. "I hope I didn't excite you with that little bit of Kenny Rogers because I don't own that particular compact disk, I'm a _little _happy to say," she yelled back.

Luke sighed tiredly. His heart was starting to race, and he had no idea how he would approach the subject of the letter. Realization set in that it wasn't going to get any easier. Looking over at Lorelai, he saw her rifling through her collection. He stood up and went to join her in the living room.

Lorelai opened a case and pulled out the CD. She placed the case on the table beside her as she slipped the disk inside the player.

_'A Rush of Blood to the Head' _, Luke read aloud as he twisted his neck. He looked up at her. "Why am I getting the feeling I won't want to listen to this?"

She fumbled with the buttons on the stereo. "Because you're abashedly in touch with yourself. Don't worry, it'll pass." She moved closer to the system. "Now, if I were the PLAY button, where would I be?" She asked slowly. "Oh, there I _hypothetically _am," she said pressing it. "And, I'm a pretty little button, too. _Yes, I am. Yes, I am _," she said closely to the button.

"Lorleai."

"Sorry," she said standing up straight. Music filled the house as she turned the volume dial up a bit. "Wanna hear my song addiction?" She asked.

"Sure."

She hit the skip button several times until Coldplay's _'The Scientist' _played. Lorelai stepped away from the stereo and closed her eyes. "I love this song so much!" She said looking back at Luke. "It's like the most depressing-sounding song ever, but it makes me oddly happy."

"As long as you're happy, I guess," he deadpanned.

She walked nearer to him. "So, do you dance?" She asked.

"Do I dance?" He repeated.

Lorelai smiled. "Yes, with your feet. See, when you move them to the rhythm of a song, that usually results in dancing."

"Thank you for that."

"I'm here to help," she replied. She looked at him expectantly. "So, how about it? Dance with me?"

He was right to think that it wasn't going to get any easier.

"Yeah, sure," he said.

Her smile widened. "Yay," she said quietly walking close to him. Luke looked at her nervously, not knowing exactly where to place his hands. She brought her hands up and linked them loosely around his neck. This brought her close, but not too close. He rested both his hands lightly around her waist.

Lorelai's eyes slid shut and she began to hum quietly to the song. Luke found himself just staring in awe at her as she did this. His desire to kiss her had never been so strong. She looked absolutely breathtaking. She opened her eyes slowly focusing on him. And he remained unable to tear his eyes away.

"Your eyes are pretty," she said to him.

"Back atcha," he said quietly causing her to smile. She stepped nearer to him, and he swallowed and dropped his eyes. "Lorelai, I have to talk to you," he said.

"About what?" She asked calmly as her fingers began to softly run through the hairs near his neck.

"Um," He closed his eyes as he tried to get his thoughts together. He looked at her once again. "It's about the letter," he said softly.

Lorelai smiled, moved closer. "And, what about the letter?" She asked.

It was weird to get confirmation that she had, in fact, seen the letter. He had no idea of what to say next. How he'd managed to get as far as he'd gotten was unknown. He just looked at her, her body brushing his as they moved to the music.

What was he going to say? If he were to broach the subject by saying that he didn't write it, she'd want to know first and foremost if what WAS written was, indeed, the truth. She'd want to know how he felt about her. And, understandably so since their relationship had changed so much. He kept thinking how okay she was with that fact. For the first time he asked himself how he felt about her. He'd been trying to hide from that subject, but he forced himself to look at it, blinders off.

But, he didn't need to. Factoring in a thousand elements couldn't prevent him from seeing something that had found a way to become a part of him. Years had been put into their friendship, and he'd been infatuated with her for nearly just as long. Lorelai had gotten to him long ago, and if he admitted to himself how much of his thoughts and actions she influenced on a daily basis, he would have his answer right there. He didn't know how not to want to see her everyday, talk to her, get angry and/or annoyed by her, and do and say things that would benefit her in positive ways. Even if he wasn't given the chance to be the one to make her happy in _all_ areas of her life, he wished with all his heart that she would find and secure someone who would.

But, here he stood, being given his shot, and he felt the need to question how he felt about her. He never thought he'd see the day.

"Luke, are you alright?" She asked softly.

He shook away his thoughts. "Yeah," he answered, staring hard at her.

"You wanted to tell me something. About the letter," she added.

He nodded and moved his eyes away from hers. Various areas of the room was given his attention. The far wall, the bookshelf, the coffee table...

"Hey," Lorelai called quietly. He settled his gaze back on her. "Talk to me," she encouraged.

Luke took a deep breath. "Yeah, about that...I just wanted to tell you that I..." She looked deeply into his eyes. "...uh...I meant it. Everything that was in that letter. I've been here, Lorleai. Through everything. And, uh, I'll always be here for you. No matter what, I'll be here."

For a second, Lorelai looked as if she'd had the air knocked out of her. She tried to say something, but nothing would come out. Wrapping her arms securely around his neck, she moved up and pressed herself against him in a tight embrace. He held her to him.

She stayed like that for a while. Her arms seemed to tighten with each lapsed minute.

"Lorelai," Luke said quietly. He was beginning to have trouble breathing, literally. She didn't move. "Lorelai," he called again. Still nothing. He looked upward and silently prayed that he would survive the hug. An internal admission that that would be one of the more pleasant partings from earth led him to surrender quietly.

He started to slide his hands over her back. He closed his eyes and allowed the feel of her to wash over him. As he did this, he felt Lorelai's grip loosen some. He paused, then did it again. "It's okay," he whispered as he moved his lips to her bare shoulder and gently kissed her there. He heard her intake of breath and felt as she loosened her arms even more. Finally able to move his neck, he turned and placed a lingering kiss on her neck.

Her hands moved back to the soft hairs on his neck, and her fingers drug across them. He pulled back and kissed her jaw, then her cheek. Realizing that he could now move fully, he pulled away and was able to see her face. He stood there for seconds, a smile coming across his lips.

"Open your eyes," he whispered.

She swallowed, her breathing soft, as if she was working on keeping it under a certain amount of control. She shook her head at his request. "Kiss me," came her soft response.

His eyes scanned her features, and he brought his hand to her cheek. He moved toward her. "If you insist."

Her breathing had heightened in moments. "I do," she whispered just as his lips touched hers.

She moved inward and wrapped her arms around him. Having completely forgotten about the actual dancing, they went on kissing like it would be their last chance at intimacy. Lorelai pulled away slowly as she took a breath and moved to his neck. She kissed him several times before making her way back to his mouth. And, they kissed slowly and passionately for a while longer.

Lorelai was the one to stop once again. She looked up at him as heavy breaths escaped her lips. "You want to go upstairs?" She asked.

He moved his hand to her arm and ran it along its length, sending shivers throughout them both. "Yeah. If you're okay with it," he answered.

She slid her hand into one of his. "Come on," she said. She turned and headed up the stairs, Luke in tow.

The music still played on in the background.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Luke pulled the sheets down to her lower back and grasped her around her waist lightly. She sat straddling him as he lay against the headboard. She moved slowly, seeming to prefer the circular winding moreso than the vertical movement.

He leaned toward her and kissed her softly before gently taking her lower lip between his teeth, then releasing it. She opened her eyes to look at him, and he managed a small smile. "So serious," he said to her.

She seemed a bit embarrassed at his words. But the embarrassment just caused a brief smile. She placed her hands on either side of his face. "And, you seriously...don't understand how good this feels," she whispered breathlessly.

Another move of her hips caused him to lose the smile and gasp lightly. "I think I have an idea," he was barely able to say.

She smiled and moved closer to him, connecting her lips to his in an immediate searing kiss. They separated, and Luke dropped his mouth to her chest as he licked skillfully around and over her nipples.

The CD had ended long ago, and the only sounds that could be heard in her bedroom were Lorelai's moaning, coupled with Luke's occasional groans of pleasure/ gratitude.

Luke looked into her face as she moved against him. He felt that maybe he may be dreaming, and if that was the case, he knew that waking just wasn't an option.

He had her.

The slightest bit of discomfort remained from his decision not to tell her the truth about the letter. But everytime that feeling would rise, he'd never hesitate to remind himself of how he had said the words to her and had made them his truth. The words weren't a lie. The way he felt about her was definitely not a lie.

Time slipped away, but it took a while for the moment to do the same. They were able to hang onto it. Savor it. And, with it, one another.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"Luke's," Luke said as he picked up the diner's phone.

"Hey, Luke. It's me."

He smiled into the phone. "Lorelai, uh, how are you doing?" He asked, his tone changing at hearing her.

She sighed, but still smiled at his voice. "Everybody within a three mile radius of Stars Hollow's main road has gassed up the minivan and graced us with their presence."

"So, you're good, then?" He asked jokingly.

She laughed. "I'm fine," she replied genuinely. "How's everything with you?"

Luke looked around at all the faces in the diner. "Normal aggravations. I don't see any minivans, so so far, so good."

"Don't speak so fast. People are asking where they can get a great cup of coffee," she said smiling on her end. "And I can not tell a lie."

"I hope you're not pointing them over here."

"Of course not. You're much too far away from the inn. I'm showing them on the map."

"Jeez."

"You can't be a businessman who hates business. You should be getting on your hands and knees and thanking me, Luke."

He was quiet for a moment. "Well, I'll see what I can do," he replied in a timbre that made Lorelai glad that she was sitting. She uncrossed her legs and sat up straight in her chair. Clearing her throat, she tried not to go where her thoughts were beckoning her to follow. They _were _both at work.

"Um, the reason I called," she began, her voice faltering under the weight of her bombarding dirty thoughts, "...is I wanted you to know that I'll be getting off a little early today. About two hours, actually. So, if you wanted to get that dinner started a little sooner, I'd be okay with that."

Luke had promised to make her dinner that night since she had gone through so much trouble...watching Sookie prepare the previous night's meal.

"You can come by when you get off if you like, but dinner will be at the same time," he told her.

He heard her release a pouty breath, and he absolutely knew what was next. "Luke, please. I'm hungry," she whined.

"It's ten o'clock in the morning."

"Point?"

"Dinner is at seven."

"Point?"

He shook his head, fighting a smile. "I have to get back to work. I'll see you tonight?"

"If I can make it. I may have to get some big strong man to carry me since I'll be too thin and weak from hunger to walk."

"Okay," he replied without pause, "Just make sure he brings you in through the back. I don't want your ghastly sight scaring away my customers."

"Sadist."

He smiled. "Tonight?"

"Tonight," she confirmed softly. "Bye."

"Bye."

Luke hung up the phone and turned to the diner, his mood almost having done a complete 360 in a matter of moments.

Upon turning around, he stopped and looked at the newest customer. Chad. The boy stood at the door, and he stared back at Luke. He gave a small smile before approaching the counter and taking a seat.

"Can I stay?" He asked hesitantly.

Luke looked at him expressionlessly before sighing and running his hands along his jeans. "Sure. You want something?" He asked.

"Yeah, a muffin and some orange juice will be okay."

He nodded and went about getting his breakfast.

Chad watched him for a moment. "My, uh, mom told me not to come back here because she didn't think you'd be okay with it."

Luke didn't say anything, but he tossed him a glance as he set his muffin in front of him.

"I won't...come back if you don't want me to," he said quietly. Still Luke said nothing. "But I promise I'm not a bad person. I didn't mean any harm, and I thought I was helping, but I won't do anything like that ever again," he said quickly.

Luke continued to look at him until he had finished talking. He turned and went back into the back to retrieve his orange juice. Coming back out, he set it, too, in front of Chad and began to wipe the counter.

Chad sighed and picked up his muffin.

"Do you have any money?"

Chad looked up at him, surprised that he had spoken. "Uh, yeah. I have money. I have enough for a tip, too," he added.

Luke shook his head. "I don't need a tip. Just as long as you have enough to pay."

"Okay. I do," he answered instantly.

Luke shook his head at the young kid's enthusiasm. "You have school tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

He paused. "Well, I have some new chocolate sprinkled coming in tomorrow morning."

"Doughnuts?" He asked excitedly.

Luke smiled. "Yeah."

"That's cool," he said, suddenly hesitant about jumping to conclusions.

Luke kept wiping the counter. "I think you'll like 'em."

Chad's face lit up. "Really?"

He couldn't help but crack a smile that time. "Yeah. Chad, is it?" He asked looking at him.

"Yeah, Chad," he said sitting up on the stool.

"Well, come in tomorrow and try one. First one's on me," he said turning attention back to his work.

"Thanks! I'll be here."

"Good."

Chad smiled widely and took a bite of his muffin.

Luke stopped and looked over at him. "Hey," he called. Chad looked up at him. Luke looked around before stepping closer. "Was it really that obvious?" He asked.

Chad laughed. "Yeah, a little bit," he responded.

Luke shook his head and smiled. "Enjoy your muffin," he said tapping the counter and stepping away.

"Thanks. I will."

Luke knew, without a doubt, that he would someday share the complete truth with Lorelai. That a stranger's kid had helped them to find what was right in front of them. And, had done it so simply, yet so well. He had written a letter for two near strangers, and had, in-turn, created what would become the greatest misunderstanding.

Yeah, one day he would tell her. But, for now, he, himself would remain just a little amazed by that knowledge.

**-The End-**

Another one of my off the cuff stories. At first, I was going to have Miss Patty being the culprit, but in my opinion, that would have been too easy. I mean, when something smells really fishy, it's either Babbette, Miss Patty, or heaven's forbid, both of them, right? I really do like to be different. Enter Chad. Hope it wasn't weird and confusing. I just write, and since I know what I'm trying to get at, it's sometimes hard to see if you guys will be able to follow.

I just felt the need to write that. Let me know something, please. Peace.


End file.
